Cognitive behavioral therapy is used widely today in addiction treatment. CBT teaches recovering addicts to find connections between their thoughts, feelings and actions and increase awareness of how these things impact recovery.

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How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?

Cognitive behavioral therapy shows that many harmful actions and emotions are not logical or rational. These feelings and behaviors may come from past experiences or environmental factors.

When an addicted person understands why they feel or act a certain way — and how those feelings and actions lead to substance use — they are better equipped to overcome their addiction.

Cognitive behavioral therapists help recovering addicts identify their negative “automatic thoughts.” An automatic thought is based on impulse and often comes from misconceptions and internalized feelings of self-doubt and fear. Often, people try to self-medicate these painful thoughts and feelings by drinking or abusing drugs.

By continually revisiting painful memories, recovering addicts can reduce the pain caused by them. They can then learn new, positive behaviors to replace their drug or alcohol use.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Addiction Treatment

Automatic negative thoughts are often a root cause of depression and anxiety disorders, which are common co-occurring disorders with addiction. This means automatic thoughts can make someone more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol as well.

CBT helps patients overcome drug addiction and alcoholism by:

Helping to dismiss false beliefs and insecurities that lead to substance abuse

Providing self-help tools to better their moods

Teaching effective communication skills

Triggers — situations that “trigger” cravings throughout the day — keep many addicted people from getting sober. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps recovering addicts deal with triggers in three key ways, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Cognitive behavioral therapists use specific exercises to help addiction recovery.

Examples of CBT techniques used in addiction treatment include:

Thought Records

Recovering addicts examine automatic negative thoughts and look for objective evidence supporting and disproving those thoughts. They list evidence for and against their automatic thoughts to compare and contrast. The goal is to help them think more balanced and less harsh thoughts by critically evaluating what they’re thinking.

Example: “My manager thinks I’m useless. I need to drink to feel better” becomes “It’s normal to make mistakes, and I can learn from this. My manager will appreciate me learning from my mistakes and heeding her advice. I don’t need alcohol to feel better about myself.”

Behavioral Experiments

These exercises contrast negative thoughts against positive ones to see which is more effective in changing behavior. Some people respond better to self-kindness and others to self-criticism. Behavioral experiments are all about figuring out what works best for the individual.

Imagery Based Exposure

In this exercise, recovering addicts think of a memory that produces powerful negative feelings. They take note of every sight, sound, emotion, thought and impulse in that moment. By frequently revisiting painful memories, the addicted person can reduce the anxiety caused by them over time.

Example: A young man focuses on a painful childhood memory. He recalls every detail and emotion in the moment. With repeated exposure the memory causes him less and less pain, reducing the need to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.

Pleasant Activity Schedule

This technique involves making a weekly list of healthy, fun activities to break up daily routines. These tasks should be simple and easy to perform while encouraging positive emotions. Scheduling these pleasant activities helps reduce negative automatic thoughts and the subsequent need to use drugs or drink.

Example: Instead of using drugs or drinking on the job, an overworked financial advisor relaxes at his desk for fifteen minutes every day. He uses that time to find and enjoy a new song from a new musical artist.

How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Differs from Other Psychotherapies

Recovering addicts do more than talk to their therapists during a CBT session and therapists do more than passively listen. Instead, addicts and therapists work together to treat addiction.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is founded on action-focused, rapid treatment. Many 60 to 90 day rehabilitation programs include CBT to provide people with immediate coping techniques.

Some psychotherapy techniques might take years to have a strong impact. CBT often requires 16 sessions to produce meaningful results.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is adaptable, making it effective in inpatient and outpatient settings, as well as individual and group counseling environments. Many therapists and addiction treatment centers include CBT as part of their recovery plans.

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Find the Resources You Need to Beat Addiction

Overcoming addiction requires many people and resources. Inpatient and outpatient drug addiction treatment can help you get sober and avoid relapse. Mental health counselors are available to teach the life skills necessary to maintain recovery.

AddictionCenter.com is a referral service that provides information about addiction treatment practitioners and facilities. AddictionCenter.com is not a medical provider or treatment facility and does not provide medical advice. AddictionCenter.com does not endorse any treatment facility or guarantee the quality of care provided, or the results to be achieved, by any treatment facility. The information provided by AddictionCenter.com is not a substitute for professional treatment advice.